General Practice under the National Health Service, 1948-1997

This is the first history of general practice under the National Health Service, from 1948 to the present. It is written by a team of contributors all of whom have, in various ways, been deeply involved in the development of primary health care in Britain. Between them, they cover all the main aspects of general practice, including changing concepts of illness and clinical practices, politics and organization, medical education, public relations, and international comparisons. They examine how the relative stagnation of the early years, when morale and funding were low, gave way to a renaissance in general practice in the 1960s which changed the service out of all recognition. Published with an extensive chronology and statistical appendix, this book will serve as an essential reference for medical historians and for the wide variety of people involved in health-care services, both in Britain and the wider world. fifty years, from 1948 to the present. It is written in a clear and accessible manner by a team of distinguished medical historians, many of whom are, or have been, general practitioners deeply involved in the development of primary health care services in this country. The book covers all the main aspects of general practice, including changing concepts of illness and clinical practices, politics and organization, medical education, public relations, and international comparisons. Between them, the contributors show how the oldest branch of medicine gradually rediscovered its role alongside the rapid advances of specialized medicine. They explain how, after a period of relative stagnation in the 1960s, there followed a renaissance in general practice which changed the service out of all recognition. Published with an extensive chronology and statistical appendix, this book will serve as an essential reference for medical historians as well as the wide variety of people involved in the health care services.